Buying a Rehomed Beardie from Craigslist

Hi! I’m thinking about purchasing a beardie from Craigslist that needs to be rehomed. I’ve never purchased one from here before and any advice would be great! https://tulsa.craigslist.org/pet/d/broken-arrow-bearded-dragon-with-cage/7282918304.html

Hi there,

Do you have any experience with bearded dragons already?

-Brandon

ClaudiusX asked exactly what I was thinking... if this is your first Beardie, I probably would steer away from Craigslist. Unfortunately, too many rehomed Beardies, especially on Craigslist, are suffering from inadequate care and likely have pricey underlying medical conditions that you'll wind up inheriting... MBD, parasites, nutritional deficiencies. Some will have never seen the inside of a vet's office. While there are SOME people who are rehoming a Beardie that's been given exceptional care, they are, unfortunately, in the minority. Too many are getting rid of an inconvenient pet that they didn't know how to care for to begin with.

Looking at the post you linked to, it seems like these owners are getting their temps from stick-on thermometers (notroriously inaccurate), the UV seems to be missing altogether or is a "coil" UV bulb in one of the domes (not good for Beardies and insufficient in UV output), and if you look in the food dish, it appears to be full of store-bought dragon "pellets" rather than a nutritious salad. Even if this owner does love their dragon, they aren't giving it the best care. You could be walking into a dragon who would prove difficult to transition to a proper diet and would need to be looked over by a vet for possible MBD. In any case, you'd be wanting to upgrade the UV to a much better tube (check out the "What To Buy" care guide on this site) and eventually move to a larger hab - 40 gallons is the bare minimum, and while it will do for a while if you're giving your dragon lots of out-of-tank "walkabout" time, most of us eventually move up to a 4x2x2' to give our dragons plenty of space when we can't be there to take them out.

Sorry to be a downer, but if it was me, I wouldn't be adopting from Craigslist - I'd look for a reputable rescue instead, or buy from a good breeder.